Jerry Weinberger - Böcker

Moral paragon, public servant, founding father; scoundrel, opportunist, womanizing phony: There are many Benjamin Franklins. Now, as we celebrate the tercentenary of Franklin's birth, Jerry Weinberger reveals the Franklin behind the many masks and shows that the real Franklin was far more remarkable than anyone has yet discovered. Taking the Autobiography as the key to Franklin's thought, Weinberger argues that previous assessments have not yet probed to the bottom of Ben's famous irony and elusiveness. While others take the self-portrait as an elder statesman's relaxed and playful retrospection, Weinberger unveils it as the window to Franklin's deepest reflections on God, virtue, justice, equality, natural rights, love, the good life, the modern technological project, and the place and limits of reason in politics and human experience. Along the way, Weinberger explores Franklin's ribald humor, usually ignored or toned down by historians and critics, and shows it to be charming - and philosophic. Following Franklin's rhetorical twists and turns, Weinberger discovers a serious thinker who was profoundly critical of religion, moral virtue, and political ideals and whose grasp of human folly constrained his hopes for enlightenment and political reform. This close and amusing reading of Franklin portrays a scrupulous dialectical philosopher, humane and wise, but more provocative and disturbing than even the most hardboiled interpreters have taken Franklin to be - a freethinking critic of Enlightenment freethinking, who played his moral and theological cards very close to the vest. Written for general readers who want to delve more deeply into the mind of a great man and great American, ""Benjamin Franklin Unmasked"" shows us a massively powerful intellect lurking behind the leather-apron countenance. This lively, witty, and revelatory book is indispensable for those who want to meet the real Franklin.

Reveals the Benjamin Franklin behind the many masks and shows that the real Franklin was far more remarkable than anyone has yet discovered. The author shows us a powerful intellect lurking behind the leather-apron countenance. This lively, witty, and revelatory book is written for readers who want to delve into the mind of this great man.

Whether intellectuals are counter-cultural escapists corrupting the young or secular prophets leading us to prosperity, they are a fixture of modern political life. In The Public Intellectual: Between Philosophy and Politics, Arthur M. Melzer, Jerry Weinberger, and M. Richard Zinman bring together a wide variety of noted scholars to discuss the characteristics, nature, and role of public thinkers. By looking at scholarly life in the West, this work explores the relationship between thought and action, ideas and events, reason and history.

Jerry Weinberger reinterprets the meaning of Francis Bacon's History and defines its importance to the rise of modern republicanism, liberalism and the politics of progress. His introduction describes the background of Bacon's History placing it in the context of Bacon's work and the sources he may have used. Weinberger comments on the changing reputation and interpretation of The History and discusses its significance as a work of early modern political philosophy.The text of The History follows, accompanied by extensive explanatory footnotes. Weinberger's annotations establish the relationship of text to the surviving manuscript, the first printed edition, and the Latin translation. In addition, they show Bacon's differences from the earlier historians on whom he relied, explaining obsolete words, and clarifying matters of historical chronology and fact. In his interpretive essay, Weinberger discusses contemporary debates on how best to approach and understand The History. He suggest that Bacon's apparently contradictory work is a subtle and seamless picture of the modern state. The History is not just an account of the first Tudor monarch, Weinberger claims; it also presents Bacon's teachings about the moral and political ends of modern progress. At its deepest level, Bacon's work addresses the justification of modern times and reopens the ageless questions of political philosophy.

Politics has taken a cultural turn in America, and the arts are at the center of today's culture wars. In this book, some of our most prominent cultural critics explore the relationships between culture and politics as played out in the world of novels, television, museums, and even fashion. The authors—John Simon, Greil Marcus, Arthur C. Danto, and other well-known commentators from across the political spectrum—examine the arts in their relation to democracy and consider whether and how they serve one another. The authors consider such topics as high and popular culture in democratic America; the relation of democracy to classical, jazz, and folk music; and the artistic potential of the most democratic of all arts, the movies. All of the essays are as entertaining as they are thoughtful.With its roots in popular sentiment, democracy will forever be entwined with art, a force that powerfully molds popular taste. Democracy and the Arts speaks elegantly to that relationship and reminds readers of its enduring importance.

From Brown v. Board of Education to Roe v. Wade to Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court has, over the past fifty years, assumed an increasingly controversial place in American national political life. As the recurring struggles over nominations to the Court illustrate, few questions today divide our political community more profoundly than those concerning the Court's proper role as protector of liberties and guardian of the Constitution. If the nation is today in the midst of a "culture war," the contest over the Supreme Court is certainly one of its principal battlefields.In this volume, distinguished constitutional scholars aim to move debate beyond the sound bites that divide the opposing parties to more fundamental discussions about the nature of constitutionalism. Toward this end, the volume includes chapters on the philosophical and historical origins of the idea of constitutionalism; on theories of constitutionalism in American history in particular; on the practices of constitutionalism around the globe; and on the parallel emergence of-and the persistent tensions between-constitutionalism and democracy throughout the modern world.In democracies, the primary point of having a constitution is to place some matters beyond politics and partisan contest. And yet it seems equally clear that constitutionalism of this kind results in a struggle over the meaning or proper interpretation of the constitution, a struggle that is itself deeply political. Although the volume represents a variety of viewpoints and approaches, this struggle, which is the central paradox of constitutionalism, is the ultimate theme of all the essays.

With the end of the Cold War, the death of Communism, and the decline of Socialism, what are the primary issues, ideologies, and parties that now structure politics? Melzer, Zinman, and Weinberger have compiled essays from prominent experts to examine the politics of the past to help plot the political future.The first half of the volume addresses “Identity Politics” and “Big Government” and their respective places in the shaping of the United States political environment since the end of the Cold War. The second half of the volume focuses on the political climate in Western Europe, Russia, India, and China.

This richly annotated second edition of the now-classic pairing of Bacon's masterpieces, New Atlantis and The Great Instauration features the addition of other works by Bacon, including "The Idols of the Mind," "Of Unity in Religion" and "Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates," as well a Summary of the each work and Questions for the reader. Includes works new to the second edition, including "The Idols of the Mind," "Of Unity in Religion," and "Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates"Updates the layout of the previous edition with a more generous interior design, making this work more student-friendly and easier to navigate in the classroomEach work is introduced and subsequently discussed, revealing the importance of Bacon’s work to his contemporaries as well as to modern readersIncludes a comprehensive introduction and annotations throughout the text; as well as an appendix of Principal Dates in the Life of Sir Francis Bacon; a selected bibliography; and synopses and questions to accompany each work